Business Lessons you can learn from Seinfeld

Well I thought I would have some fun with this blog post. As you may or may not know, I’m a HUGE Seinfeld fan. Having watched each episode an unhealthy number of times it occurred to me that these characters had some pretty epic entrepreneurial traits.. in fact they were actually growth hackers!

How? Well lets look at how Seinfeld characters growth hacked their way to mediocrity.

When trends and opportunities align – The Bottle Deposit

Kramer and Newman’s collect recyclable bottles and instead of getting 5c for each bottle in New York they decide to head to Michigan where they can get 10c per bottle.

This is where the genius comes into to it. They understand that they can only make it profitable if they do it on Mothers Day where an extra truck is required to deliver mail. They use this truck to store their bottles and cash in.

Growth hacking at its finest, understanding trends and opportunities and ensuring they are aligned for optimum profit and growth.

Of course in Kramer and Newman’s case, chasing Jerry’s stolen car ensures they overdo their fuel consumption, lose their bottles with Newman eventually left by the wayside. The concept was there but the execution just didn’t sync.

You get what you pay for – The Invitations

One thing I have always learnt is that in the majority of cases you get what you pay for. What something cheap and fast.. it’s not going to be good. What something Good and Fast? Definitely not going to be cheap.

Learn from the great George Costanza in ‘The Invitations’. George and his fiance Susan were shopping for wedding invitations. As a result of George’s excitement he went straight to the back of the pile to choose his wedding invites. A little fact about these invites were that they are sorted in order of most expensive to least expensive.

Choosing the cheapest wedding invites saved George money but also lead to the untimely death of his fiance. In turns out the glue from the cheap invites was poisonous and during a session of sending out the invites, Susan fell ill to the glue she was licking. George was *shattered.

Understanding your market & being Market Fit – The Muffin Tops

Being market fit and understanding your market is vital. Its important to ensure there is a demand and people want your service and that what your offer addresses a markets needs.

In the episode of the Muffin Tops Elaine explains to her boss how she just likes eating the Muffin Tops and throws the rest of the muffin away (just a note, I do exactly the same thing!). Her boss then goes and sets up a muffin shop called Top of the Muffin to you.

After cutting Elaine in on the business to get it moving, Elaine immediately addresses a small problem. The market likes muffin tops but wants the tops that came from full muffins, not the top baked on its own! This is the perfect example of not just being market fit but understanding the nuances of the market.

Business goes swimmingly however they run into the problem of disposing the muffin buts. These end up with the homeless who then complain they are getting muffins without the tops and then yada yada yada, things end up getting a little out of control.

Just a little fun this time. If you are a fan.. would love to hear what you have picked up.